Dale Cresap's blog

Do you expect to be commended when you do right and hope for mercy when you do wrong?  Do you think it is bad enough to suffer for your own faults and hope that in some way your virtues will balance against them? Yet my word speaks of suffering for the sake of righteousness, even as I did, for they hated me without a cause and I had done them no harm. Isn’t it unrealistic to expect to lead a pain free life? Then isn’t it better to suffer for doing good than for doing evil? For in this case my word tells you to rejoice. Suffering for wrongdoing can be considered as chastisement and correction, but suffering for virtue is the glory of righteousness.

The common people received my message gladly. Those who rejected me had titles and position invested in the status quo. I came to give them life, and they perceived me as a threat because they were so closely attached to a system they depended on. They hated me without a cause. The same dynamic can work within an individual on a smaller scale. Do you have any attachments in your life that prevent you from fully embracing me? You know that the Pharisees would have been better off to walk away from all they had to follow me. This is a universal truth that applies to all people in all times. Is there anything you are attached to that holds you back?

You ask me for blessings and you are right to come and make your requests of me. What is your concept of the blessings you seek? Do you think that they will give you an easy and indulgent life? Yet even unbelievers know intuitively that this is not the best life to live. Then perhaps you should expand your understanding of blessings. If you ask me for them and believe that I answer your prayers, then you should examine your life if the light of that and see how your circumstances fit in the context of my Kingdom.

Do you read for enjoyment, or information, or that you may be changed? Reading for information is harder than reading for fun, and reading to change yourself is still more rigorous, but it is the most beneficial. Who has not tried to break a habit or overcome a deep-seated tendency? You observe your friends characteristics to be fairly constant, and see the same thing in yourself. If you recognize that some of these are hindrances you know how hard it is to eliminate them. Such is the promise of the gospel message, not only that your sins can be forgiven, but that you can be transformed into my likeness. You do not have my promise that this will be easy, but for it to happen at all is a testimony to the light of the world.

Have you ever gone to a ‘come as you are’ party? This is an effort to get people to relax the artificial image they present to others. Do you understand that I throw the ultimate ‘come as you are’ party? You could not improve yourself enough to be presentable to me, but I will receive you as you are to perform my work of grace in your life. To approach me on some other basis would demonstrate that you don’t know your true nature or the nature of my redemptive work. Do you understand the value of time? Your efforts to clean yourself up waste time that you could put to better use serving me in my Kingdom. Come to me as you are. Now.

Do you find Christians to be judgmental? Do you think it is normal for them to be this way? They have received my commandments and I expect them to follow them. Should they expect others to follow them as well? Yet one of my commandments is that you judge not. Those who do not acknowledge me do not receive this commandment and can give harsh unrighteous judgment. Those who call on my name should acknowledge that they are creatures of mercy and this should make them reluctant to judge others. Those who judge demonstrate that they don’t understand the mercy they receive. Those who are forgiven much love much and judge not.

Except you become as little children you shall not enter the Kingdom of God. What qualities do you see in a child? One of these is inquisitiveness. They are curious about the world and eager to learn. If you are doing some new and unfamiliar activity they will come over to investigate. Have you lost your curiosity about new and unfamiliar things as you matured? My invitation to you to seek and find is not limited to a single event. If you keep on seeking you will keep on finding. Maintain your sense of mystery and wonder even as you grow. My Kingdom is an inexhaustible source of these things. 

Do you have questions about my Kingdom? Does it bother you to live a life of faith if you have unanswered questions?  Do you realize that I prompt you with questions about things I want to teach you? Teachers engage students by posing questions to their classes. I do the same thing with you to encourage you to seek me for the answers. For you have my promise that if you seek you will find. Yet those who have no unanswered questions are self-satisfied and no longer seeking. Let your questions prompt you to ask of me, and I will delight to share the treasures of my Kingdom with you. 

Are you afraid when you are popular? Who doesn’t thrive on the approval of those around them? Who wouldn’t like to have a fan club? Yet my word says beware when all men speak well of you. You can become addicted to approval, and compromise your character to obtain it. Your fans will not hold you accountable for your actions. Who can maintain purity and self-discipline under these conditions? There is a steady supply of those who fall because their visible success makes them think they can make their own rules. It is true that you can gain the whole world and lose your own soul. Blessed are those who seek my approval, whether anyone else approves or not.

When you ask me for something do you expect an answer? If you do not receive an answer do you assume that the answer is no? If you try to get an answer from your friends in response to some inquiry and get none, you may assume that they are not interested, but that is not the same as a definite negative answer. Paul made a definite request of me three times, and I gave him a definite answer. I told him that my grace was sufficient for him. This was a definite negative answer to his prayer, but it was still full of divine wisdom and redemptive grace. I am capable of saying ‘no’, or ‘wait’, but it furthers my transforming work in your life for you to keep listening until you get an answer from me.